How Day Trading Has Evolved With Technology

April 10, 2017

By Nick Vincent

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If you’ve been day trading for a while, you may have noticed that it’s a lot easier now than it was in the past. And for those who are just getting started, you’ll soon learn to appreciate just how much technology has benefited day traders over the past few years.

Whether you’re trading penny stocks or anything else, tools like VWAP have made it easier than ever to understand trading. We can now easily see relative volume, and it’s simple for beginners to understand limit order and stop order with the wealth of information and tools available online.

Technology has made day trading much more flexible. Consider the first desktop software which finally allowed professional traders to sell and buy currency. These were quickly followed by online trading platforms, which allowed individuals to begin day trading from home, without needing to engage a broker.

Then we have smartphones. Just a decade ago these devices were introduced, and have revolutionised trading around the world. After one or two places developed a smartphone app, most brokerages quickly followed suit, and now offer trading apps for tablets and phones so they can keep up with competitors. Just ten years ago, this was unheard of.

Now that people can easily trade from a tablet or smartphone, flexibility has increased hugely. You can now day trade on the way to work, on your lunch break, in line at the supermarket, and of course, on the couch at home.

Of course, the speed that most people can now trade in, thanks to these online platforms, can also be a downside. Self-taught, and amateur traders can find themselves dealing with huge losses, and having access to tools which allow them to instantly trade large amounts of money is not always a good thing.

That’s why it’s so important to learn the basics before you begin trading, and technology has also provided a huge amount of information about day trading online, including websites and courses for beginners.

Previously, day trading was only available to people in finance. Now, anyone can trade online, as long as they have an internet connection. This allows people to take control of their investments, finances, and trading, and manage their own portfolios right on their laptops or smartphones.

Technology has also led to more informed trading. Day traders can instantly react to news as soon as it’s happening, and make decisions based on real-world information. While it can be difficult to sort important and unimportant information, once beginners understand how financial news impacts their trading, they can learn to use it and keep up with news relating to the companies they’re interested in.

While the speed of day trading may mean a greater margin for error, there’s little question that technology has greatly benefited day traders. It will be interesting to see just where technology goes from here, and how it’s used to improve trading for people around the world.